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| Get "Lost" in Your Own Island Paradise! Captain Chuck, Shows You the Thrills of Caribbean Caribbean Travel Pirate Islands! |
Caribbean Travel Guides
Belize
(6,OF 50 TC)
© PHOTOS BY CAPT. CHUCK
Just south of Mexico’s Yucatan Peninsula on the
Caribbean coast, Belize is a small country with a number
of big advantages for travelers. Pirates, plenty of them,
anchored off these sands and tangled jungles, 500 years
ago. They surely marveled at its 185 mile-long barrier reef,
its astounding blue holes, and as they went ashore, were
dumb-founded by spectacular Mayan temples. But they
divulged the location to no one; Even now, Belize, once
British Honduras, is called “the Caribbean’s Best Kept
Secret.”
Yet this small independent country has much to offer
Carib travelers. Once inside its barrier reef – second
longest in the world – there are cruising and fishing
grounds that rival many of its island sisters. Since it has
not been overrun by tourists for many years, much of its
placid beauty lingers, wild, unspoiled and open to
discovery.
It is the only official English-speaking country in Central
and South America.
Not too far inland, high on a hill sits a stone fortress built
by Mayans almost a thousand years ago. The people of
today, however, combine a mix of the Maya with African
slaves of the past, and include some European white
strains as well. Included are descendants of the Maya,
Garifuna, the originals; but also Creole, Mestizo, some East
Indian, and a smattering of German Mennonites. With
bustling small cities, Belize has risen from past struggles,
and has a growing economy that has embraced tourism for
a way to development.
Belize City, the capital, is a tightly packed citadel,
modern in many ways, while Placencia can be a step back
to the Caribbean, or South Pacific, before tourism swept
through. If you crave big resorts, hustle and night life, it’s
San Pedro. Its population is more Mexican/Mestizo. But
for nature’s charms, Placencia, a Creole/Garifuna mix –
just in recent years air-conditioned, still without
supermarkets – is closer to escape mode.
While much tourism centers on the beach-laden coast,
with diving and sailing featured, many tours now include
the ancient temples which have risen from the jungles,
now being resurrected by government agencies.
Tours feature exotic rivers and steaming virgin forest
with cascading waterfalls, limestone caves, hardly explored
by the outer world. The wilderness pulsates with colorful
tropical birds – glimpse a rare harpy eagle, largest of the
raptors. Jaguars, too, stalk their prey – tapir – in the wild;
home of the dreaded fer-de-lance, deadliest of the
hemisphere’s venomous snakes.
Outside the small cities, the jungle rules its own world.
This relationship to the past has prompted government
aegis for nearly 40% of the small country’s wilds, to stop
illegal relic smugglers.
Some resorts, such as Maruba Jungle Spa, take delight in
leading tourists through fanciful touchstones of the
woodland’s mysteries; stucco walls slathered with Ralph
Lauren gold or aluminum paint, stained glass, a window
mural of an angel made from recycled bottles. It’s Versace
chic, however, with honey-mud massages under conical
thatched roofs, at this “temptation island.”
Numerous small lodgings link civilization with the jungle
and the beaches, in a choice of different amenity levels:
Young, adventurous wanderers; Beach-side bars and
restaurants lining the shallow coastal waters, as well. It is
the farthest west Caribbean.
On Ambergris Cay, a water taxi ride from Belize City,
new resorts such as Banana Beach offer up-to-date rooms,
air conditioning, and endless white sand beaches.
Diving and sailing are very popular; local operators
provide all. Cruising inside the barrier reef – called the
“inner harbor,” by the locals – offers protection from
heavy seas, for the most part, while the cerulean water is
so clear you can count shrimp and crabs navigating across
the sand 15 feet below.
Offshore a multitude of “cayes” – perhaps 80 to 100
coral islands – present their clumps of coconut palms and
virgin beaches to snorkle, or fish. Or just lie back and
enjoy the luxury of a far off place with no one else on the
horizon.
Diving a blue hole – an underwater cave that winds for
miles – is an unforgettable experience. Local dive operators
are careful to explain all the details and ride careful herd on
their customers.
Night dives here are quite popular, because the water is
so clear. With lights you will experience the ocean’s
creatures as never before. To see the reefs explode with
the misty clouds of ova in their breeding period can be a
once in a lifetime experience.
Sailing in Belize waters, out of Port Placencia, whether
on charter or your own vessel, is also a joy, with the
Barrier Reef flattening the seas in this vast lagoon. A
popular landmark is Ranguana Cay, a protected anchorage
20 miles to the southeast, at the edge of the Reef. Silk
Cays, to the north, offers another fine beach and cruising
area. Other cays you may venture to are Laughing Bird,
Coco, Mosquito, and Lark Cay. The Moorings yacht rental
operation is at Placencia Village.
Belize, the Caribbean that modern time is catching up to,
is ready to entertain you.
########
http://www.belizenet.com/
http://www.destinationsbelize.com
Caribbean coast, Belize is a small country with a number
of big advantages for travelers. Pirates, plenty of them,
anchored off these sands and tangled jungles, 500 years
ago. They surely marveled at its 185 mile-long barrier reef,
its astounding blue holes, and as they went ashore, were
dumb-founded by spectacular Mayan temples. But they
divulged the location to no one; Even now, Belize, once
British Honduras, is called “the Caribbean’s Best Kept
Secret.”
Yet this small independent country has much to offer
Carib travelers. Once inside its barrier reef – second
longest in the world – there are cruising and fishing
grounds that rival many of its island sisters. Since it has
not been overrun by tourists for many years, much of its
placid beauty lingers, wild, unspoiled and open to
discovery.
It is the only official English-speaking country in Central
and South America.
Not too far inland, high on a hill sits a stone fortress built
by Mayans almost a thousand years ago. The people of
today, however, combine a mix of the Maya with African
slaves of the past, and include some European white
strains as well. Included are descendants of the Maya,
Garifuna, the originals; but also Creole, Mestizo, some East
Indian, and a smattering of German Mennonites. With
bustling small cities, Belize has risen from past struggles,
and has a growing economy that has embraced tourism for
a way to development.
Belize City, the capital, is a tightly packed citadel,
modern in many ways, while Placencia can be a step back
to the Caribbean, or South Pacific, before tourism swept
through. If you crave big resorts, hustle and night life, it’s
San Pedro. Its population is more Mexican/Mestizo. But
for nature’s charms, Placencia, a Creole/Garifuna mix –
just in recent years air-conditioned, still without
supermarkets – is closer to escape mode.
While much tourism centers on the beach-laden coast,
with diving and sailing featured, many tours now include
the ancient temples which have risen from the jungles,
now being resurrected by government agencies.
Tours feature exotic rivers and steaming virgin forest
with cascading waterfalls, limestone caves, hardly explored
by the outer world. The wilderness pulsates with colorful
tropical birds – glimpse a rare harpy eagle, largest of the
raptors. Jaguars, too, stalk their prey – tapir – in the wild;
home of the dreaded fer-de-lance, deadliest of the
hemisphere’s venomous snakes.
Outside the small cities, the jungle rules its own world.
This relationship to the past has prompted government
aegis for nearly 40% of the small country’s wilds, to stop
illegal relic smugglers.
Some resorts, such as Maruba Jungle Spa, take delight in
leading tourists through fanciful touchstones of the
woodland’s mysteries; stucco walls slathered with Ralph
Lauren gold or aluminum paint, stained glass, a window
mural of an angel made from recycled bottles. It’s Versace
chic, however, with honey-mud massages under conical
thatched roofs, at this “temptation island.”
Numerous small lodgings link civilization with the jungle
and the beaches, in a choice of different amenity levels:
Young, adventurous wanderers; Beach-side bars and
restaurants lining the shallow coastal waters, as well. It is
the farthest west Caribbean.
On Ambergris Cay, a water taxi ride from Belize City,
new resorts such as Banana Beach offer up-to-date rooms,
air conditioning, and endless white sand beaches.
Diving and sailing are very popular; local operators
provide all. Cruising inside the barrier reef – called the
“inner harbor,” by the locals – offers protection from
heavy seas, for the most part, while the cerulean water is
so clear you can count shrimp and crabs navigating across
the sand 15 feet below.
Offshore a multitude of “cayes” – perhaps 80 to 100
coral islands – present their clumps of coconut palms and
virgin beaches to snorkle, or fish. Or just lie back and
enjoy the luxury of a far off place with no one else on the
horizon.
Diving a blue hole – an underwater cave that winds for
miles – is an unforgettable experience. Local dive operators
are careful to explain all the details and ride careful herd on
their customers.
Night dives here are quite popular, because the water is
so clear. With lights you will experience the ocean’s
creatures as never before. To see the reefs explode with
the misty clouds of ova in their breeding period can be a
once in a lifetime experience.
Sailing in Belize waters, out of Port Placencia, whether
on charter or your own vessel, is also a joy, with the
Barrier Reef flattening the seas in this vast lagoon. A
popular landmark is Ranguana Cay, a protected anchorage
20 miles to the southeast, at the edge of the Reef. Silk
Cays, to the north, offers another fine beach and cruising
area. Other cays you may venture to are Laughing Bird,
Coco, Mosquito, and Lark Cay. The Moorings yacht rental
operation is at Placencia Village.
Belize, the Caribbean that modern time is catching up to,
is ready to entertain you.
########
http://www.belizenet.com/
http://www.destinationsbelize.com
Belize, Caribbean Surprise
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Click 'Home' to order!
The full text: 247 pages of fun,hilarious adventure, sailing
the Bounding Main! Just $16.95
-OR-
CD only $12.00 free ship.
Order Your own Pirates Pearls & Paradise Today! Avast, Me
Hearties, Ye'll Love the Voyage!
Click 'Home' to order!
The full text: 247 pages of fun,hilarious adventure, sailing
the Bounding Main! Just $16.95
-OR-
CD only $12.00 free ship.
Order Your own Pirates Pearls & Paradise Today! Avast, Me
Hearties, Ye'll Love the Voyage!